diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1754669
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# --- STATE.md: LOCAL-ONLY until a PRIVATE remote exists ---
+# House rule: STATE.md must never reach a public mirror. No private remote is set
+# yet (see docs/BRIEF.md §13.4) and this repo is intended for publication, so the
+# current state-of-play stays untracked. Move STATE.md to tracked ONLY after a
+# private Forgejo remote is added — never on a public mirror.
+/STATE.md
+
+# --- Python (declared stack: stdlib-first library, BRIEF §8) ---
+__pycache__/
+*.pyc
+.venv/
+build/
+dist/
+*.egg-info/
+.pytest_cache/
+.mypy_cache/
+.ruff_cache/
+.coverage
+coverage/
+
+# --- Secrets / local / OS (obligatory) ---
+.env
+.env.*
+*.local.md
+.DS_Store
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6361e43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Changelog
+
+All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index d59bc71..e3a0f76 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -19,3 +19,19 @@ Repoet er på **brief-stadiet**. Start med `docs/BRIEF.md`.
 - Ingen GitHub — kun Forgejo (`git.fromaitochitta.com`) hvis/når publisert.
 - Ingen remote satt ennå; ingen push før operatøren bestemmer publisering.
 - Minimal-dependency: stdlib-first kjerne; ML/judge-detektorer bak extras.
+
+## Communication patterns
+
+### Linking to local files
+
+When pointing to local files in responses, always use markdown link syntax with a descriptive name:
+
+- Use `[Human-friendly name](file:///absolute/path)` — never bare `file:///...` URLs or autolinks `<file://...>`.
+- Always use absolute paths. Never `~/` or relative paths.
+- For multiple files, render as a bullet list of named markdown links.
+
+Why: bare `file://` URLs only render the first as clickable across multiple lines. Named markdown links make each entry independently clickable and look cleaner.
+
+Example:
+
+- [Brief](file:///Users/ktg/repos/llm-ingestion-pipeline-security/docs/BRIEF.md)